Garden tips, DIY and décor advice, green living tidbits and information for homesellers from GateHouse News Service. Home Help helps you prep your house for the seasons, find out ways to do chores and repairs better, and learn about new products for
...

Garden tips, DIY and décor advice, green living tidbits and information for homesellers from GateHouse News Service. Home Help helps you prep your house for the seasons, find out ways to do chores and repairs better, and learn about new products for your humble abode.

Recent Posts

You should open your window treatments during the daytime to allow the sun to help heat up your home.

Jan. 6, 2014
12:32 p.m.

Tip of the Week

Window fashions have come a long way. With the variety of styles, fabrics, colors and textures available, they truly add “fashion” to the home, says design expert Sally Morse.

Morse is director of creative services for Hunter Douglas, the world's leading manufacturer of quality window coverings for the home. Certain treatments, like her favorite Hunter Douglas Duette Architella shades, add to the “energy efficiency of the window without looking like the equivalent of orthopedic shoes.”

“They’re beautiful pumps instead, with a cell-within-a-cell construction that is highly efficient at stopping cold air dead in its tracks,” she added. “It helps protect against up to 45 percent of heat transfer at the window and can also help with the heating bills as well.“

You should open your window treatments during the daytime to allow the sun to help heat up your home, Morse says, and close them at night to keep warmth inside during winter.

Remember where your windows face, too, Morse advises:

• Northern light is the coolest, clearest, most constant light, but also the coldest. Put your most insulating window treatments here.

• Eastern light is warm, bright and clear, but its brightness may render it overly warm, especially in the morning. East-facing rooms often heat up quickly and hold heat during the day. Cut down on glare with materials that diffuse the light.

• Western light or afternoon light is the warmest in color and the hottest. It’s often hazy, and prolonged exposure can be damaging to furnishings. Windows should be covered with a combination of light-diffusing, UV-ray-protecting treatments.

• South-facing windows are the most important natural light source in an interior because of sunlight that casts a warm, golden glow year-round. Fabrics and window treatments that are UV-stable are most desirable here, while window coverings with metalized or white backings that reflect the light help reduce heat gain.